WASHINGTON: Donald Trump faced greater restraints on his presidency after Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives and pledged to hold the Republican accountable after a tumultuous two years in the White House.

Trump and his fellow Republicans expanded their control of the US Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, following a divisive campaign marked by fierce clashes over race and immigration.

But they lost their majority in the House, a setback for the president after a campaign that became a referendum on his leadership.

A defiant Trump called the result a “big win” and was due to hold a news conference at the White House at 11:30 a.m. (1630 GMT).

With some races still undecided, Democrats were headed for a gain of more than 30 seats, beyond the 23 they needed to claim their first majority in the 435-member House in eight years.

The Democrats had never looked likely to win control of the Senate and in the event they fell short of a tidal wave of voter support that would have given them that. A Senate majority would have allowed Democrats to apply even firmer brakes on Trump’s policy agenda and given them the ability to block any future Supreme Court nominees.

However, the party will now head House committees that can investigate the president’s tax returns, possible business conflicts of interest and links between his 2016 election campaign and Russia.

The Democrats could also force Trump to scale back his legislative ambitions, possibly dooming his promises to fund a border wall with Mexico, pass a second major tax-cut package, or carry out his hardline policies on trade.

“Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans, it’s about restoring the Constitution’s checks and balances to the Trump administration,” Nancy Pelosi, leader of the House Democrats, told supporters at victory party.
Trump cast the elections in terms of Republicans who had hewed closely to him.

“Those that worked with me in this incredible Midterm Election, embracing certain policies and principles, did very well. Those that did not, say goodbye!” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Yesterday was such a very Big Win, and all under the pressure of a Nasty and Hostile Media!”

Several firm Trump supporters, including Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, won their races.

Trump, 72, had hardened his rhetoric in recent weeks on issues that appealed to his conservative core supporters. He threw himself into the campaign, issuing warnings about a caravan of Latin American migrants headed through Mexico to the US border and condemnations of liberal American “mobs” he says oppose him.

The party with the presidency often loses House seats in midterm elections. Former President Barack Obama’s Democrats suffered what he called a “shellacking” in congressional elections in 2010.

GRIDLOCK?
With divided leadership in Congress and a president who has taken an expansive view of executive power, Washington could be in store for even deeper political polarization and legislative gridlock.

Financial markets often favour Washington gridlock because it preserves the status quo and reduces uncertainty.

US stock futures pointed to strong opening gains for Wall Street on Wednesday, while the dollar dropped on lowered chances of further US fiscal stimulus.

A Democrat-controlled House will hamper Trump’s pro-business agenda and could lead to uncertainty about his administration, but corporate tax cuts and deregulation measures that have played a large hand in the US stock market’s rally since the 2016 election are likely to remain untouched.
“With the Democrats taking over the House we will now have to see what gridlock in Congress means for policy. As for the market impact, a split Congress has historically been bullish for equities and we expect to see the same pattern again,” said Torsten Slok, Chief International Economist of Deutsche Bank.

Losing the House will test Trump’s ability to compromise, something he has shown little interest in over the last two years with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.

There may be some room to work with Democrats on issues with bipartisan support such as an infrastructure improvement package or protections against prescription drug price increases.

“Of course, we want to work in a bipartisan fashion. I think we can get an infrastructure bill,” said Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Foreign policy has been an area that Trump has approached in a very personal way, sometimes antagonizing allies such as Canada while making what critics see as unduly warm overtures to traditional rivals or foes.

Democrats will use their new majority to reverse what they see as a hands-off approach by Republicans towards Trump’s foreign policy, and push for tougher dealings with Russia, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

DEMOCRATIC PROBES
Every seat in the House was up for grabs on Tuesday. The Republicans had an advantage in Senate races because elections were held for only 35 seats in the 100-member chamber and many of them were in states that often lean Republican.

Republicans built on their slim Senate majority by several seats and ousted four incumbent Democrats: Bill Nelson in Florida, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

Those gains are sure to bolster Republicans’ efforts to get conservative federal judges through confirmation proceedings during a “lame duck” session that starts next week, as well as from January when the new Congress convenes.

In the 36 gubernatorial contests, Democrats won governorships in several states that supported Trump in 2016 but lost high-profile races in Florida and Ohio.

Democrats could infuriate Trump by launching another congressional investigation into allegations of Russian interference on his behalf in the 2016 election. A federal probe by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russia’s role in that election is ongoing.

A House majority would be enough to impeach Trump if evidence surfaced of collusion by his campaign, or of obstruction by the president of the federal investigation. But Congress could not remove him from office without a conviction by a two-thirds majority in the Republican-controlled Senate, an unlikely scenario.

Most Democratic candidates in tight races stayed away from harsh criticism of Trump during the midterm campaign’s final stretch, focussing instead on bread-and-butter issues like maintaining insurance protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, and safeguarding the Social Security retirement and Medicare healthcare programs for senior citizens.
WOMEN, YOUNG, HISPANIC VOTERS FUEL GAINS
The Democratic gains were fuelled by women, young and Hispanic voters, a Reuters/Ipsos Election Day poll found. Fifty-five percent of women said they backed a Democrat for the House this year, compared to 49 percent in the 2014 midterm congressional election.

A record number of women ran for office this election, many of them Democrats. There were 237 women on ballots for House seats and at least 95 had won their races as of early Wednesday morning, shattering the previous record of 84 women in the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

The party picked up seats across the map but some of the campaign’s biggest Democratic stars lost.

Liberal Beto O’Rourke’s underdog Senate campaign fell short in conservative Texas against Republican Ted Cruz. Andrew Gillum lost to Republican DeSantis in his quest to become Florida’s first black governor.

In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams was seeking to become the first black woman to be elected governor of a US state. Her opponent, Brian Kemp, was ahead in a very close race early on Wednesday and Abrams said she would not concede until all the votes were counted.